


shall we drink until we're bold

by kiittenteeth



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Rewrite, The fire scene, also no one really remembers crowfeather fondly, basically i rewrote the fire scene but in the setting of my own take on a warriors rewrite, jayfeather is renamed jaynose bc hes a warrior here, oh forgot to mention but squirrel holly and jay are all trans, so soot is also trans but he doesnt show up in the fic just mentioned, squirrelflight is renamed squirrelstorm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 07:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21249413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiittenteeth/pseuds/kiittenteeth
Summary: Ashfur confronts Squirrelstorm while her kits' lives are at stake.





	shall we drink until we're bold

**Author's Note:**

> hey hey havent seen yall in a hot minute. heres some more warriors content oopz! this takes place in my personal rewrite au, and u can find a ROUGH DRAFT of the thunderclan family tree [here](https://sorrelstream.tumblr.com/post/188550683804/rough-draft-concepts-for-the-new-thunderclan) and a post that talks about some related stuff to this fic [here](https://sorrelstream.tumblr.com/post/188550640164/some-general-rewrite-rambling) B) sorry i only ever post aus
> 
> also again sorry if formattings weird. i type this all up in google docs and then transfer it here so o-|--<

Hollyleaf couldn’t recall the last time, if ever, she had seen her mother this furious. 

Squirrelstorm stood before Ashfur and her three kits, her dark ginger fur fluffed out to make her appear twice her typically short stature. Her darker ears were pinned against the back of her head and she bore her fangs at Ashfur, her lip curled as she spat at him once more to move.

“Is there sheep’s wool in your ears? _ Move _.” 

Still, Ashfur remained unrelenting, standing atop of the branch that was the only safe crossing for Hollyleaf and her brothers away from the fire; his back was turned to Hollyleaf, and she couldn’t read his expression, but he stood stubbornly still, as if he had been turned to stone.

“What is going through your head right now?” Squirrelstorm hissed, her bristling tail lashing behind her as she glared up at Ashfur with narrowed eyes, blazing as intensely as the fire behind the group, “They’ll burn alive! Move, Ashfur!”

Ashfur turned to glance over his shoulder towards the three young warriors for the first time since he took his place on the branch, his dark blue eyes so cold that Hollyleaf nearly shivered, despite the smoldering heat blasting against her. 

“Good. Let them.”

A rock dropped in Hollyleaf’s stomach, and for the first time that evening, a look of shock and almost fear flashed across Squirrelstorm’s face. 

“Excuse me?” She breathed out, low with disbelief, and Hollyleaf had to strain to hear her mother’s words. Ashfur straightened above her, his tail tip twitching as he reiterated, “You heard me. I said let them. Let them burn alive.”

“What are you _ thinking _? You’ll kill them, Ashfur! They’re my kits - they’re the leader’s kin!” Squirrelstorm crouched lower to the ground, her muscles stiffening as if she were about to lunge at a piece of prey.

Ashfur didn’t move, rigid as ever, with only his tail tip flicking as proof of his life, “I want you to watch them die.”

Squirrelstorm didn’t hesitate after that; she launched her body at Ashfur’s with an infuriated shriek, “_ Get out of my way! _”

Ashfur met her half way, rearing up on his two hindlegs and bracing for Squirrelstorm’s impact; he brought his forelegs up and twisted his head, digging his teeth into the side of Squirrelstorm’s neck as she thrashed, attempting to dislodge him from his placement so that she could reach her children. Ashfur bunched his forelegs beneath Squirrelstorm’s body and with a low grunt and a flick of his head, the tom threw her off and onto the hard ground before them. It was over in a matter of seconds.

Hollyleaf flinched at the high-pitched yelp that was torn from her mother as she landed roughly on her back with a thud loud enough that her kits below could hear. Squirrelstorm rolled onto her belly, struggling to bite back a low groan as she struggled back to her paws, clearly dazed from the painful landing. Ashfur finally expressed himself as he watched Squirrelstorm get to her paws; his back arched as the spotted gray fur along his spine lifted, his tail whipping up a frenzy behind him and his ears laid flat against the back of his head. 

“You have no idea the _ pain _ you put me through when you chose Sootfur over me, Squirrelstorm!” He wailed to her, his voice nearly cracking as he attempted to screech above the crackling of the flames surrounding them. Hollyleaf shot a puzzled glance towards Lionblaze - what did he mean choose? If Hollyleaf recalled correctly, Ashfur was about the same age as her aunt Tawnypelt and uncle Brambleflower, who were both nearly a full season cycle older than Squirrelstorm.

Ashfur carried on without even letting Squirrelstorm get a word in, “Do you know the agony you put me in? Do you understand how much it hurt to watch you raise these kits with _ Sootfur _ and not _ me _?” 

Squirrelstorm stared up at Ashfur with a bewildered expression, as if she herself was reeling at the tom’s tirade; he dug his claws into the bark of the branch and raked them, sending chunks of wood flying into the flames as he lamented, “You killed me on the inside, Squirrelstorm, and you never even bothered to lend me a helping paw. You just sat and watched as I drowned for you! So I’m going to make you pay. I’m going to make you hurt the same way you made _ me _ hurt.”

Ashfur clawed at the branch more, lowering his head as he spat wildly at the molly before him, “I want you to _ hurt _, Squirrelstorm.”

There was a pause as Squirrelstorm simply gazed up at Ashfur, her forest green eyes round with shock and disbelief, before she flattened her ears once more and snapped back at him, “For StarClan’s sake, Ashfur, Sootfur and I aren’t even mates!”

Hollyleaf’s ears pricked, her own eyes widened at the reveal; she felt Jaynose shift against her, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Lionblaze stiffen with confusion. Even Ashfur seemed taken aback, and he stepped away from Squirrelstorm, lifting his head up as he echoed everyone’s silent thoughts, “What?”

“Sootfur and I are not mates, Ashfur,” Squirrelstorm made sure to emphasize every word heavily as she locked eyes with the tom before her, “We were _ never _ mates. Not even once. He and I never ever had a romantic fling. Your punishing these innocent cats for being the result of a relationship that never even existed in the first place.”

The molly narrowed her eyes to slits, “I didn’t reject you because I was in love with Sootfur, I rejected you because I wasn’t interested in being romantic with you. What’s so hard about that to understand? You were my _ friend _ . I _ thought _ you were my _ friend _.”

Squirrelstorm’s last words didn’t seem to have any effect on Ashfur; instead, he just waved his tail towards the three young warriors below and locked his gaze on Squirrelstorm, “If you and Sootfur were never together, not even once, then who’s kits are these?”

Squirrelstorm froze, as if she had been caught sneaking prey before she was allowed to do so. Hollyleaf strained to hear Squirrelstorm’s response, but there were no words and no other sound beside the roar of the flames circling them. When she failed to answer, Ashfur simply took a step forward, “Are they yours?” 

“I raised them-,” Squirrelstorm began, but Ashfur interjected, raising his voice back to a bellowing shout, “_ Are they yours? _”

Squirrelstorm stared at Ashfur with an unreadable expression before she finally announced, “No. I did not sire them.”

Hollyleaf’s heart sunk.

“That doesn’t mean they’re not mine though!” Squirrelstorm yowled as Ashfur turned away from her, his eyes lighting up with a terrifying amusement, “I raised them! They’re my kits!”

“But _ you _ didn’t have them!” Ashfur sneered towards her, before wheeling around fool to face the three, his eyes wild like he was in a frenzy. 

“You hear that, kittens?” He taunted, whipping his tail behind him, “She’s not your mother! She’s been lying to you this whole time! She’s not your mother!”

“You shut your filthy mouth!” Squirrelstorm’s voice raised in anger, practically shrieking as she swiped at Ashfur, trying to drag him away from facing her kits, “I am their mother! I raised them as my own! I loved them as my own! They _ are _ my kits!”

Ashfur cackled as he shoved Squirrelstorm off once more, taking a step towards the three and craning his head over the ledge of the short cliff, “How does that make you feel, kitties? Does it make you feel _ bad _ ? _ Sad _ ? Are you _ hurting _, you sweet little gifts from StarClan?” 

Hollyleaf dug her claws into the ground below her paws, silently willing herself to stop shaking despite Ashfur’s taunts; her green eyes locked with Ashfur’s as he jeered, “Look at you, honeysuckle, shaking like a leaf.”

He grinned once more and yanked himself away from the three younger warriors, hooting as he did so, “Well, you know how to take it out on!”

As he passed by Squirrelstorm on the branch, leaping off onto the ground beside her, he smacked his tail tip against her cheek, his mouth curled into a cruel grin, “I wonder how the rest of the Clan will feel about your dirty little secret.”

Squirrelstorm spun around, lashing out to swat at Ashfur’s face, but the tom darted out of her reach before her claws could connect with his skin; he dashed away from the family and out of sight, his laughter dying out slowly until all Hollyleaf could hear was the fire raging beside her once more. Once Ashfur was away, Squirrelstorm whirled around and hovered over the branch, looking down to the three with widened, frantic eyes, “What are you still doing down there? Hurry, hurry! Climb up this branch before you can’t any longer!”

Wordlessly, the three did as Squirrelstorm told them to; Jaynose was the first to make it to the top, then Lionblaze, and then finally Hollyleaf. She felt Squirrelstorm’s teeth in her scruff as the older molly helped haul her up and away from the danger below; Hollyleaf regained her posture in time to watch Lionblaze round on Squirrelstorm, his dark golden ears pinned back as he muttered, “Is it true? Have you been lying to us this whole time?”

Squirrelstorm winced at the young tom’s comment, “I didn’t tell you where you came from, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter _ who _ you came from, you are still _ my kits _, and I’ve loved you as my own since I had you.”

“Who are our real parents?” Lionblaze growled, his fur lifting along the back of his neck; Squirrelstorm gazed at him in defiance, retorting swiftly, “_ I _ am! I don’t care what Ashfur says, you _ are _ my kits.”

“Who are our real parents?” Hollyleaf flinched as she heard Lionblaze’s voice raise to a bitter shout, and Squirrelstorm’s ears flattened for a heartbeat, “Why do you need to know? _ I’m _ your mother!”

“Tell me!” Lionblaze took another step towards Squirrelstorm, and the older molly stood her ground, snapping back, “I won’t!”

Lionblaze recoiled, his golden tabby tail lashing behind him as he glared at Squirrelstorm for a few fleeting moments, before he, too, turned on his heels and pelted away from the scene without another word, ignoring Squirrelstorm’s voice as she called after him. She turned to the other two warriors after Lionblaze left her sight, her green eyes searching pleadingly to read the expressions of either Hollyleaf of Jayfeather.

“You two have to understand, right?” Her voice seemed to waver, and Hollyleaf felt a pang of pity in her chest at the sight of Squirrelstorm, only a mere moments ago holding herself ferociously against Ashfur, beginning to break, “I love all three of you so, so much. Whether or not I had you doesn’t change the fact that you’re my kits.” 

Hollyleaf tore her gaze away from Squirrelstorm’s, her stomach twisting into knots; this was far too much to handle - for her whole life, she had thought that Squirrelstorm and Sootfur were her doting parents that deeply loved each other, but now that she thought about it, every interaction she ever saw between Squirrelstorm and Sootfur seemed more like interactions between close friends rather than mates. But it was still such a drastic change in truth, but did that really change how much Squirrelstorm cared for Hollyleaf and her brothers growing up?

Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts, Hollyleaf simply mumbled, “I think we should go before the fire catches up to us.”

Squirrelstorm simply nodded, turning on her paws and swiftly hurrying away from the encroaching blaze, “Follow me.”

And just as they had done since they were younger, Hollyleaf and Jaynose followed her.


End file.
